Arizona Eagletarian

Thursday, May 15, 2014

NO PLACE TO HIDE -- from Dominionist oppression? Not quite yet.

The internet has long been heralded as an unprecedented instrument of
democratization and liberalization, even emancipation. But in the eyes
of the US government, this global network and other types of
communications technology threaten to undermine American power...

Ultimately, beyond diplomatic manipulation and economic gain, a system
of ubiquitous spying allows the United States to maintain its grip on
the world. When the United States is able to know everything that everyone
is doing, saying, thinking, and planning -- its own citizens, foreign
populations, international corporations, other government leaders -- its
power over those factions is maximized...

That's doubly true if the government operates at ever greater levels of
secrecy. The secrecy creates a one-way mirror: the US government sees
what everyone else in the world does, including its own population,
while no one sees its own actions. It is the ultimate imbalance,
permitting the most dangerous of all human conditions: the exercise of
limitless power with no transparency or accountability. p 169, No Place
to Hide by Glenn Greenwald. Published May 13, 2014 (emphasis mine)

That's essentially how Greenwald wraps up chapter three, "Collect it All," which in his latest book (released just days ago) describes, in exquisite detail, the mission of the National Security Agency (NSA).

Now, think about the 2014 regular session of the Arizona Legislature. What did we observe? First and foremost, the insidious wranglings of Cathi Herrod attempting to stealthily transform our state into a Dominionist dystopia (well, she probably doesn't think of it in those terms).

We KNOW that Cathi Herrod has owned and operated Steve Yarbrough (ostensibly R-LD17/Chandler) and the legislature in general for several years. Besides me, the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix New Times and other publications have documented her inordinate influence on state lawmaking and public policy.

Cathi Herrod will not be satisfied until she has imposed her brand of theocracy on all of Arizona. Her allies have their sights set on the entire nation. Just this week, Dominionist Republican Ben Sasse won the Nebraska GOP primary nomination for the US Senate seat being vacated at the end of the year by retiring Sen. Mike Johanns. Sasse's campaign website looks like an advertisement for passage of SB1062.

Ben Sasse believes that our right to the free exercise of religion is
co-equal to our right to life. This is not a negotiable issue.
Government cannot force citizens to violate their religious beliefs
under any circumstances. He will fight for the right of all Americans to
act in accordance with their conscience.

Of course, if all you had to go by was one side of the story, Sasse's (or Herrod's), why would anyone be opposed to allowing Americans to act in accordance with their conscience? That's where critical thinking becomes indispensable.

How many people convicted of passing bad checks violated their consciences? What about corporations that fraudulently foreclosed on untold numbers of American homeowners? Just how tolerant, by the way, do you think Sasse or Herrod would be to practitioners of Islam, or Wicca, or Mayan ritual human sacrifice?

Such claims by Dominionists are red herrings meant to distract from their true intent, which is to LIMIT the religious freedom of anyone not accepting their world view or the right of others to act on their own sincerely held beliefs (like same sex marriage or a woman's sovereign right to self-determination over her own health care decisions)?

Are YOU ready to hand the keys to the most powerful government on the face of the earth over to religious oppressors?

We've had a taste of UPRISING in Arizona. It's time to institutionalize it by changing who is in control at the Arizona Capitol.